Body panel flange bending air hammer attachment



May 6, 1969 T. M. SNOWDEN 3,442,114

BODY PANEL FLANGE BENDING AIR HAMMER ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 15. 1966 Fl'2 34 g 44 Thomas M Snowden IN VENTOR.

United States Patent Office Patented May 6, 1969 3,442,114 BODY PANELFLANGE BENDING AIR HAMMER ATTACHMENT Thomas M. Snowden, 212 Hazel Drive,Florence, SC. 29501 Filed Dec. 13, 1966, Ser. No. 601,484 Int. Cl. B21d31/06; B21j 13/02 US. Cl. 72-465 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis invention relates to a novel and useful air hammer attachment andmore specifically to an air hammer attachment designed to crimp a bodypanel flange over a portion of an adjacent body panel section whilesimultaneously providing means whereby the hammer attachment is guidedrelative to the work and the direction of impact of the impact member ofthe attachment may be varied by the operator of the associated airhammer as desired.

In many phases of sheet metal working it is often necesary to secure onesection of sheet metal to another by crimping a flange portion of thefirst sheet metal section over a portion of the second sheet metalsection. In one particular phase of sheet metal working, automotive bodyrepairing, replaceable sheet metal sections such as outer door panelsinclude peripheral edge portions which are crimped over and secured toother sheet metal sections of the door. When an outer door panel, eithercomplete or a specific section thereof, is damaged to the extent that itmay not be inexpensively repaired and yet the remainder of the door hasincurred little or no damage, it is often least expensive and lesstroublesome to replace either the whole outer door panel or apredetermined section thereof in which the outer door panel has beendamaged. In this instance, the whole or partial outer door panel may beremoved from the remainder of the door by straightening crimpedperipheral flange portions of the outer panel from engagement withadjacent portions of the remainder of the door and thereafter acorresponding new outer door panel or section thereof is placed inproper position relative to the remainder of the door and peripheralflange portions of the new panel or section thereof are crimped overadjacent portions of the remainder of the door so as to secure the newpanel or portion thereof to the door.

\ The attachment of the instant invention is specifically designed toperform the function of evenly and precisely crimping the peripheralflange portions of a new body panel over adjacent portions of anassociated body portion so as to secure the new sheet metal structure inits proper position. Of course, after such a peripheral flange crimpingoperation has been carried out, other means such as spot-welding,gas-welding or arc-welding may be utilized as further means to securethe new body panel in position.

The main object of this invention is to provide a body panel flangebending air hammer attachment operable in conjunction with aconventional air hammer to smoothly and evenly crimp body panel flangeportions as desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide an attachment inaccordance with the preceding object and constructed in a manner wherebythe attachment may be readily most advantageously positioned relative tothe body panel flange which is to be bent or crimped.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein isto provide an attachment in accordance with the preceding objects whichwill conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simpleconstruction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will beeconomically feasible, long lasting and relatively troublefree inoperation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the attachment of the instantinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the attachment takensubstantially upon a plane passing through the longitudinal center linethereof and with the chuck portion of a conventional air hammerillustrated in phantom lines supporting the shank portion of theattachment for longitudinal reciprocation; and

FIGURES 3-5 of the drawings are schematic views illustrating successivesteps of use of the attachment in bending a peripheral flange portion ofan outer door panel over an adjecent flange portion of the remainder ofa vehicle body door.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generallydesignates the attachment of the instant invention. The attachment 10includes an elongated shank 12 having one end portion 14 adapted forremovable securement in the chuck portion 16 of a conventional airhammer -18, the air hammer 18 being operable to longitudinallyreciprocate the shank 12.

The end portion 14 of the shank 12 is somewhat diametrically reducedrelative to the opposite end portion 20 of the shank 12 and the latterincludes a diametrically enlarged circumferential flange or abutment 22on whose opposite sides the end portions 14 and 20 are disposed.

A slide 24 is provided and has a smooth bore 26 formed therethrough. Theend portion 20 is slidably and rotatably received through the bore 26and an abutment washer 28 is slidably disposed on the end portion 20intermediate the slide 24 and the abutment 22. The Washer 28 is radiallyslotted as at 30 and a compression spring 32 is disposed about the endportion 20 between the slide 24 and the washer 28.

The slide 24 includes an elongated longitudinally straight guide surfaceor face 34 disposed to one side of and generally paralleling the endportion 20. The guide surface 34 is disposed substantially normal to aradius of the end portion 20 extending between. the latter and thetransverse center of the surface 34. The guide surface 34 is formed onthe end of the slide 20 remote from the abutment 22 and terminates atits end adjacent the abutment 22 in a right angulated abutment surface36 through which the end portion of the bore 26 remote from the abutment22 opens. The abutment surface 36 is disposed normal to the longitudinalaxis of the bore 26 and the end portion 20 of the shank 12 has a bodyflange engaging head portion 38 mounted on the terminal end thereofwhich projects outwardly of the end of the bore 26 remote from theabutment 22. The end of the head portion 38 adjacent the abutment 22includes an end surface 40 which is abuttingly engageable with theabutment surface 36 in surface to surface contacting engagementtherewith and the head portion 38 includes a blind bore 42 openingthrough and disposed normal to the surface 40 in which the terminal endportion of the end portion 20 is secured in any convenient manner suchas by a minus clearance fit.

The head portion 38 includes a flange abutting surface 44 which includesone marginal portion disposed closely adjacent whose end adjacentsurface 40 closely opposes and slidingly and guidingly engages face 34and whose end remote from surface 40 curves away from face 34 andterminates in a rounded nose surface 45. The slidingly engaged portionsof face 34 and surface 44 prevent rotation of the slide 24 about thelongitudinal axis of the shank 12 relative to the head portion 38.

In operation, assuming that the end portion 14 is secured in the chuck16 of the air hammer 18, the attachment is first positioned asillustrated in FIGURE 3 of the drawings after which the air hammer 18may be actuated and the guide surface 34 may be brought into contactwith the outer surface 50 of the outer door panel 52 including a flangeportion 54 which is to be crimped over an adjacent flange 56 of avehicle door generally referred to by the reference numeral 58. As theflange portion 54 is partially crimped over the flange 56 in the mannerillustrated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, the air hammer 18 may beangularly displaced so as to angularly displace the attachment 10 to theposition thereof illustrated in FIGURE 4 of the drawings. Thereaftercontinued operation of the air hammer 18 will further crimp the flangeportion 54 over the flange 56 and the final crimping of the flangeportion 54 may be carried out by further angularly displacing theattachment 10 during operation of the air hammer 18 to the position ofthe attachment 10 illustrated in FIGURE 5 of the drawings.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A flange bending attachment for an air hammer of the type including areciprocal member, said attachment including an elongated shank adaptedat one end for securement to said reciprocal member with thelongitudinal axis of said shank generally paralleling the path ofreciprocal movement of said reciprocal member, a slide mounted on theother end portion of said shank for reciprocal movement therealongbetween limit positions and including an elongated generally planarabutment and guide face generally paralleling and adjacent said axis, aengaging portion carried by the other end portion of said shank formovement therewith relative to said slide outwardly of and along saidabutment and guide face, means operatively connected between said slideand said shank yieldingly urging said slide toward its limit positionaway from said one end of said shank, said flange engaging portionincluding an elongated flange abutting surface extending lengthwise ofsaid shank whose end adjacent said one end of said shank closely opposesand is disposed in guiding and sliding engagement with the correspondingend of said face and whose other end curves smoothly away from said faceand terminates in a lengthwise arcuate rounded nose.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said slide and flangeengagingportion include opposing abutment faces disposed generallynormal to said shank and defining a limit of movement of said slidetoward said other end of said shank.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,283,799 11/1918 Kerr 724792,233,937 3/1941 Hexdall' 173'31 2,810,420 10/ 1957 Gibson 724792,877,820 3/1959 Ristow 17331 3,188,729 6/1965 Pogue et a1. 29-243581,808,452 6/ 1931 Cousins 29275 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 29243 .58; 72479

